BOLOGNA: OFF THE BEATEN PATH
BOLOGNA. So what comes to your mind when I mention Bologna? Spaghetti Bolognese? Beware, I can read your mind.
To tell you the truth, at first I thought Spaghetti Bolognese is Bologna’s supposed signature dish, but when I was there, I simply could not find any Spaghetti Bolognese. I learned from the locals that they use tagliatelle instead of spaghetti and the meat-based sauce is called ragù. The earliest documented recipe of an Italian ragù comes from Pellegrino Artusi who first published a recipe in 1891 for a meat sauce characterised as being “bolognese”. There you go, the name to look for ‘tagliatelle al ragù‘. Finding a halal one is quite hard in Bologna, but it’s not a big deal as I can always make Spaghetti Bolognese (or tagliatelle al ragù) at home.
I visited Bologna last March for the second time to attend the world’s biggest children’s book fair. I went to do research on my new children’s books, besides being there at the Malaysia Pavilion to promote my books for international licensing rights.The Bologna Children’s Book Fair is the most important international event dedicated to children’s publishing and multimedia industry. I was there in 2010. I wanted to go back this year because previously I didn’t have much chance to really explore the halls and really look at children’s books displayed at the book fair. I also didn’t have the chance to stick my illustrations on the Illustrator Wall because I didn’t know about it until I was there. I am thankful to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for sponsoring my return flights to attend this prestigious event and eventually get to stick my illustrations on the wall.
You see, this is the kind of book fair that I quickly feel belonged. There were children’s books everywhere. There were millions of books on display! Just imagine that I was like a child in her playground getting the right toys!
For your information, Bologna Children’s Book Fair has been around for 53 years. Bologna Children’s Book Fair is an annual event where authors, illustrators, literary agents, licensors and licensees, packagers, distributors, printers, booksellers and librarians meet. Here they sell and buy copyright, find the very best of children’s publishing and multimedia production, generate and gather new contacts while strengthening professional relationships, discover new business opportunities, discuss and debate the latest sector trends.
I am proud that this year, my books and books that I illustrated were also being displayed at the Malaysia Pavilion. But yes, the hidden agenda was to just travel. Prior to Bologna, I went to Arcidosso, a commune in the Province of Grosseto in the Italian region Tuscany, including Florence and Venice.
Apart from being at the book fair for a few days, I got a day off to explore some parts of Bologna city with my illustrator friend, Evi, who stayed with me in a rented room in an apartment at Via Ferruccio Garavaglia that we booked through Airbnb. It’s way much cheaper to rent through Airbnb rather than hotel room for 2 pax. We stayed with the owners, Katerina and Fabio, a very friendly and nice couple. We rented the room because it is situated near the book fair, only about 10 minutes’ walk.
We went out to the city early in the morning, took bus 35 to the city and started walking to Via dell’indipendenza, a business street that is not far from Bologna Centrale (the main station) via Piazza XX Settembre. There was an open market at Piazza XX Settembre called Fiera del Libro that sells books and prints. This book market takes place twice a year: March to May (Spring) and from October to November (Autumn). Evi and I bought some art books at very good price.
Opposite Piazza XX Settembre, there’s Montagnola Park. Montagnola Park is the oldest park of Bologna and it has always been a location for cultural performances, games and sports competitions. This park is open to the public since 1664. The park’s football field just had 3G Pitch Resurfacing to allow sports to be played to the highest standard possible.
We later strolled along the porticoed Independence Street towards Piazza Nettuno. Independence Street is the major shopping strip, with an abundance of local boutiques and jewellery stores, not to mention the international ones. I bought a pair of Marietta’s suede boots for 10 Euros and a Pull&Bear jeans for 17 Euros. Oh, and a sweater for 15 Euros at a boutique that I can’t remember the name.
Along the walk to Piazza Nettuno, we saw the baroque Cattedrale di Bologna, a church that is dedicated to Saint Peter. Most of the present building dates from the 17th century, with a few parts from the late 16th century. The architecture is so grand and amazing.
When we got to Piazza Nettuno, we saw a rally going on. The rally, called S.O.S. Venezuela, was in support of students and protesters in Venezuela who are standing up against President Nicolas Maduro’s regime. S.O.S Venezuela was simultaneously held in dozens of cities throughout the world on the same day. The objective of the gathering was to create public awareness of what is happening in Venezuela as well as gain signatures for a petition to get elected officials to take a stand and denounce the human rights violations. We didn’t join but just stood there watching the rally while looking at beautiful buildings in the area including the Fountain of Neptune.
The Fountain of Neptune (Fontana di Nettuno), a monumental civic fountain with a bronze figure of Neptune, extending his reach in a lordly gesture of stilling and controlling the waters. I was mesmerised to learn that in 1920, one of the Maserati brothers, the artist Mario Maserati, used this symbol in the logo as it was considered particularly appropriate for the sports car company due to fact that Neptune represents strength and vigour. In addition, the statue is a characteristic symbol of the company’s original home city, Bologna.
Other than Maserati, I thought that it is good to mention here that Ducati and Lamborghini was also established in Bologna in 1926 and 1963 respectively.
Also in the vicinity of the square is the big Biblioteca Salaborsa. Salaborsa is Bologna’s multimedia and general information library, which provides users of all ages with books, newspapers, magazines, videos, compact disks, data banks, along with cabled and wi-fi internet connections. Access to the library is free.
Opposite of Salaborsa is the Town Hall (or Palazzo d’Accursio), consisting a set of buildings that were united over the centuries. In the 15th century, it was restored by Fioravante Fioravanti, who added, among other features, the Clock Tower.
And the clock made us hungry! We didn’t realise that we had walked and explored for 5 hours! It was already 3pm and we decided to eat rice. We walked the same route back to the station and had our late lunch at a Pakistani cafe. While eating, we planned to explore more parts of the city but suddenly the rain poured. We decided to just go back to the apartment and rest. The 5-hour walk (with a heavy camera, bag full of books, new pair of boots, jeans and sweater) had an effect on my back.
We did go out to the city once or twice to have lunch and buy few other things during other days but that was about it since we had limited time. After discussing much about it, Evi and I like to go back to Bologna on a more relaxed trip, not as an excursion for an event.
Bologna has so much to offer and makes a perfect off-the-beaten-path destination for savvy travellers. It is a delight to simply wander and discover unexpected sights and architectural masterpieces from the past, not forgetting the tagliatelle al ragù.
Getting to Bologna: KLM Royal Dutch Airlines operate twice daily from Kuala Lumpur(KUL) to Bologna (BLQ).
P/S: I wrote this article for Gaya Travel magazine and will appear in the latest issue 9.3.
50 Comments
Hazural
First sy bca tittle “Things Bologna” (blum scroll bwh lg…) Dalam fikiran sy… Spaghetti Bolognese.. Then bila scroll lg bca tulisan Kak Em… hahahaaa… kalau saya ke sana pun… maybe menu ni yg ada dlm fikiran sy juga… 😀
glory jane
reading k.em blog always enlighten me… hihi.
mcm post hari ni, saya belajar 3 benda:
1) about food
2) traveling tips
3) history
p/s: 1st time dgr pasal tagliatelle… google2 tgk dia mcm fettucini. sama tapi tak serupa…
glory jane
haha… sama la…. bologna terus ingat spaghetti bolognese yum2… ops, automatik lapar ni..
imaisha
Tula.. informative sungguh entry kali ni. saya dah la mmg minat Italian cuisine. So, sebut Bologna mmg terbayang spaghetti bolognese la.. hehe. Ok, perut dah berbunyi. Pi cari spaghetti sat 😉
Syuq
Sekarang ni bila sebut Bologna, saya teringat K.Em… heheheh
Hazural
terrrgeliat lidah nak sebut 😀
Syuq
Memang tergeliat. Rasanya kalau nak order pakai tunjuk dengan jari je la gamaknya heheh
aida
since you write about bologna book fair a lot ( i have noticed the postings in preivous years), it has been my dream to attend it.. as an avid reader myself, i would love to see the books on offer.
glory jane
imaisha dah dpt mkn spaghetti lum? 😉
glory jane
mcm boleh sebut, tapi takut bunyi nye jadi lain pula… hihi
imaisha
haha..dpt mkn nasi je 😛 maklumla, dok kat Malaysia, bkn Italy. Hihi~
glory jane
haha, sama la kita… saya pun mkn nasi je… blk nnti baru nak masak spaghetti bolognese… <3
emila
Tu la. Nak yang boleh makan, order je pizza al pomodoro (pizza tomato).
emila
Rasanya kat Grocers ada jual tagliatelle tu.
emila
Find the time to go next year. It is so awesome I tell you!
emila
Heheheh! Call me Emila Romagna!
emila
Hehehehe memang tergeliat lidah!
emila
Glory Jane, glad you find my blog post useful 🙂 Thanks for reading!
imaisha
jadi ke masak spaghetti semalam? 😉 ala, terlambat baca komen ni, kalau x, blh tumpang mkn skali.. hehe~
glory jane
Smlm suami request makaroni la. Tak jadi msk spaghetti.
jaja
Masa mula2 baca Bologna, saya tak pernag terfikir spaghetti bolognse tapi saya teringat lagu hindustan bolo-bolo…
mama bolo-bolo.. papa bolo-bolo… hehehe….
jaja
yup, betul.. banyak info yang berguna selain tengok artwork kak em…
sebab tu seronok .. hehehe
jaja
nak panggil emilasagna boleh… hehehe
teringat lasagna
imaisha
Eh, bolo-bolo? lagu apakah.. jaja mmg minat hindustan ke? ^__^ mcm lawak je lagu tu 😛
imaisha
Emila Romagna lagi sesuai kot 😉
Kalau Emila Lasagna, asyik ingat nk mkn je nanti. hehe~
jaja
dulu masa kecik2.. sekolah rendah kot.. ada cerita hindustan.. masa tu cerite hindustan kan memang popular kat malaysia… lagu dia memang bolo-bolo…hehehe… 😀
glory jane
saya pun tau gak lagu tu jaja… hihihi
Hazural
” tagliatelle al ragù” ~ mi dengan sos daging…. Google translate 😉 hahahaa
jaja
high5 jane, jom nyanyi sama2.
@Aisha ni mesti lahir tahun 90-an dan keatas.. sebab tu tak tahu.. 😀
imaisha
Errr.. tak la muda sgt. akhir 80-an je. hehe. tapi mmg tak minat hindustan. Kalau kuch2 hota hai tau la 😉
jaja
ooo. tapi kuch kuch ho ta hai minat pulak… hehehe.. 😀
Alia
Seronoknya bercuti 🙂
Yukino Hinata
what a nice illustration to explain things about bologna. i never knew about that place. lucky you get to travel to such place and explore their culture & food. by the way, i never knew that the children books’ jobscope is that wide. i really need to read all over your entries to know how you do it from scratch until being a successful malaysian illustrator. salute~
Farahana
Inspiring journey, Kak Emi wrote it with heart n soul.
Farahana
Bila baca ragu, teringat ragi tapai pulakkkk
imaisha
yup, very inspiring! suka sgt baca travelog org lain. A motivation for me to travel to the same place ^_^
imaisha
saya pulak rasa ragu2 nak mkn tagliatelle al ragù sbb kat bologna tak tau halal ke tak. hihi..
imaisha
tak minat pun tapi sbb popular, layankan jela.. hehe..
imaisha
betul tu.. bestnya dpt merasa bercuti luar negara. kita setakat cuti2 Malaysia je buat masa ni.. >.<
Farahana
Seronok
Sebab kak Emi bercuti sambil bekerja
Love what u do, do what u love
Hafsah ahmad
Hehe…you can read our mind
Hafsah ahmad
True, the first thing that came to my mind was bolognese. And it is amazing that their name for bolognese is totally no the same. Hehe
Hafsah ahmad
Thru visiting your blog that I know the different children book fair and events that exist on different countries and even in malaysia.
Hafsah ahmad
Love your illustrations. Especially the aeroplane with a figure of you. Heee…minimal colouring but still able to potray the feelings and excitement of you traveling. 🙂
Hafsah ahmad
Baru tahu juga yg Maserati, Lamborghini, and Ducati are all from Bologna. Hehe.. I’m not a fan of cars. But my husb is. 🙂
Hafsah ahmad
Btw I loce reading about your journey. They sounds fun and your description made me feel as if i am also travelling with you. 🙂
imaisha
yela.. harap dpt kerja yg blh bekerja sambil melancong.. kan best >.<
enjoy je mcm tgh holiday walaupun sebenarnya bekerja~
imaisha
makaroni pun sedap juga 😀 aduh, lapar pulak padahal pagi tadi dah mkn nasi.. huhu..
Hafsah ahmad
*love
Hafsah ahmad
😀